Do You Happen to Know This Photo?

"Do you happen to know this photo?"

Lee Seo-won had badgered Park Hyun-seung until he finally got his hands on footage of Yoon Jay's acting. It was only possible because his own company was the production house behind The Garden of Evil.

Just how good does he have to be for me to go poking my nose into another company's contract?

Brimming with anticipation, he pressed play.

(Hello there?)

Even though it was nothing but a shaky phone recording of a monitor and not the original footage, the presence on screen was so unsettling that Seo-won couldn't hold its gaze. He whipped his head away.

"Wh-what the hell is that."

The moment Lee Seo-won had first laid eyes on Yoon Jay, he'd handed over his business card because of that dazzling face and presence — like the matinee idols of a bygone era. No other actor his age carried a mask like that.

Looks could open doors even if the acting lagged behind at first, and Seo-won had wanted to nurture an actor who would one day explode into tremendous skill — the way so many greats had before him.

(Why is it always my fault! Yeon-seok, you knew all of this when you signed!)

(Heh heh. Let's end this now, shall we?)

But if he's already at this level from the very start... is there even anything left for me to develop?

A face like that had no drawbacks in life. But it did impose a few constraints when choosing projects — someone too handsome might clash with the image of a role.

And yet how could anyone direct such a repulsive performance with a face like that? A rookie actor, no less?

"...CEO, how many years is your contract with Jay?"

"Gah! You scared the life out of me! Director Kwak, when did you get here?"

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"A while ago."

Lee Seo-won, so absorbed in the footage that he hadn't noticed Kwak Dohyun's arrival, let out a long sigh.

"Three years."

"Is there still time to rip up that contract? Why on earth didn't you just do the standard seven?"

Director Kwak Dohyun had been watching the footage over his shoulder, holding his breath.

While road manager Han Jin-woo managed Yoon Jay on set, it fell to Kwak Dohyun, the managing director, to sit in meetings with production companies and fight for the actor behind the scenes — insisting that their actor get proper business-class treatment, that lodging be no less than three stars, that every possible support be secured.

Which meant he should have known everything about the actor in advance. But Yoon Jay had been an easy man to manage.

All he'd ever mentioned was that his condition dipped slightly in the rain. No preferences, no fussiness, hardly any demands at all.

Who would have guessed he was hiding acting chops this far from ordinary?

"What if another company swoops in and takes him clean away in three years?"

"Haah... Well, first things first. I need to push whatever he wants to do."

And so Yoon Jay passed Lee Seo-won's test. Remarkably fast.

Kim Yeon-seok, a man who had clawed his way up from the very bottom, had finally found his chance at revenge — the chairman of the syndicate that had dragged him into the abyss, Baek Jin-ri of Jeonchonggyo.

But he'd let his guard down and been captured by Baek Jin-ri, and just as it seemed everything would end in such hollow fashion, his reliable ally Yu Tae-hyun appeared — and smashed Baek Jin-ri's skull with the very baseball bat the man had wielded himself.

The camera caught Moon Chang-min's confusion in full, uncut. Then came the dazzling one-take action sequence of the pair fighting their way out of the Jeonchonggyo compound, and Kim Yeon-seok, finally free of danger, came face to face with a completely unexpected figure.

Moon Chang-min's eyes went wide the instant he saw him.

Why?

Baek Jin-ri wasn't the final boss?

"Gotcha! Totally gotcha!"

After filming for The Garden of Evil wrapped, a modest dinner was arranged — just the three of them: lead actor Moon Chang-min, director Park Hyun-seung, and Yoon Jay.

"Hey, Park Hyun-seung. Wasn't that a bit much, even for you?"

"You're the one who said anything goes, as long as it helped the acting."

"Still! How do you justify stacking a twist on top of a twist just to make a fool out of me?"

Moon Chang-min let out a rueful laugh.

He'd watched Yoon Jay's performance and assumed, naturally, that Baek Jin-ri was the final boss — and then the man had abruptly collapsed into nothing.

A presence like that couldn't possibly die so anticlimactically. Would he resurrect later and come hunting for me? He'd suspected it all through the shoot, but Baek Jin-ri never appeared again.

"You're the one who loves realism. Thanks to that, we got plenty of great footage."

"Realism like that is a thing of the past, I tell you."

It turned out that Yu Tae-hyun, the man who had cracked Baek Jin-ri's skull, had secretly sided with the true mastermind — and that the real villain was a veteran actor so formidable he could make even Moon Chang-min bow his head. Anyone watching would realize within a single scene: this man is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the one who really runs the show.

"It's all thanks to Jay here."

"I didn't do anything."

Baek Jin-ri was nothing more than a MacGuffin. Yoon Jay had simply worked hard under the director's guidance, nothing more.

Still, the fact that the two men had set aside a table just for him said everything about how they felt.

It feels strange, being recognized for a performance imitating that guy.

Baek Jin-ri had only ever been an imitation of someone else. No more counting on lucky breaks now — because it was never truly his own acting to begin with. Yoon Jay drank cider instead of soju.

"Go Kwang-il has been asking to see you too, Jay. Says he absolutely can't find the time, though."

"That's a shame. I wanted to meet him."

The role of the mastermind who pulled Baek Jin-ri's strings like a puppet belonged to Go Kwang-il — a titan of the craft with over forty years of acting behind him.

Word was that after watching Yoon Jay's footage, he'd simply smiled and said, "An interesting one has appeared."

"So, um... Jay?"

After a long stretch of Garden of Evil talk, director Park Hyun-seung ventured a careful question.

"You're not, you know... doing anything, are you?"

"Sorry?"

"The, uh, thing. You know. That farm Baek Jin-ri runs, or... something like that."

It was a delicately phrased probe: surely you haven't actually taken drugs, have you?

Yoon Jay only blinked, and Park Hyun-seung hurried to add a stammering footnote.

"It's just — I looked it up, and it said pupils constricting like that only happens with a chronic condition, or because of drugs..."

"Hahaha!"

Yoon Jay burst out laughing. With the negative emotions that had weighed on him somewhat eased, the atmosphere at the table shifted into something warmer and more relaxed.

Startled by the sudden laughter, both men could only stare at him blankly.

To think my attention would be stolen by a guy who's high on the same stuff. What kind of person laughs like that? Where the hell was he hiding all this time?

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Ah — sorry. That was rude, wasn't it?"

"Not at all. You're saying I did it well."

After all, he'd acted like a genuine drug user — which, viewed a certain way, was lavish praise.

Yoon Jay considered for a moment, then gave a brief account of what he'd been through. Everyone already knew he'd been a bodyguard and a soldier, after all. Leave out the terrorists and the hostage business — just say it was something he'd experienced after a firefight.

"Wow. So you've really been through all that."

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"I looked it up — turns out there's even a technical term for it."

"Navy SEALs get deployed to some seriously dangerous places, I bet?"

"I suppose."

Yoon Jay smiled enigmatically and steered the conversation elsewhere.

Park Hyun-seung and Moon Chang-min exchanged a glance, catching the mood that flickered past, and simply concluded: he must have done something far from ordinary.

"So, Jay. What's next for you?"

"I'd like to try a TV drama. There are a few I'm looking at..."

"A drama? Surprising. With Seo-won's company behind you, I'd think film roles would come easy."

"My little brother wants to see me on TV as soon as possible."

The thought of Yoon Do-jun made him chuckle.

Where on earth did he see or hear whatever it was that had him suddenly whining like that? Not that Do-jun had already gone to Lee Seo-won, begging to know what was the fastest drama his brother could get into.

"Well, the line between film and drama has pretty much blurred these days."

"Even the actors who used to do nothing but films seem to be slowly turning their eyes toward dramas. But will Seo-won actually fight for you on the drama front?"

"He said he'd do his utmost. That he'd invest his own money if he had to."

"Him?"

Unbelievable. This was the man who shot ActorDuce 101-style projects, screening actors ruthlessly and cutting anyone who fell short of his standards without a shred of mercy.

As Moon Chang-min muttered in disbelief, director Park Hyun-seung broke into a knowing grin.

"What do you think? He's fallen for Jay's acting."

"Ahh. So that's the producer in him talking. That absolutely staggering—"

"Exactly."

The conversation drifted on to memorable works they'd each seen — and it was here that Yoon Jay nearly spat out the water he was drinking.

"My all-time favorite film? The Child, obviously. That movie is why I dreamed of becoming a director."

"I've watched it twice. God, how does a kid that age act like that? If he'd kept going, he'd have become a legend by now."

"A hundred percent. Jay, you've seen it, right? They even did a restoration rerelease this time."

Yoon Jay only nodded. Seen it was putting it mildly. He'd been in it.

What angle should I spin it with this time?

Deceiving them, even unintentionally, left a small ache in his chest.

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Lee Seo-won clicked his tongue at how things stood with Yoon Jay — a fan cafe had already sprung up, a gallery had been created, and people were checking in on his whereabouts on a regular schedule.

He really is something.

Who knew where he'd been hiding all this time, but the man had staggering star quality — to say nothing of the talent itself.

The brother is just an excuse, surely. Investors, in the end, attach themselves to actors out of fandom too. Jay must know he's good. Which means — is he planning to build name recognition through dramas, gather investors, and then go independent?!

Ah, no. That won't do.

If he'd never known, fine — but he'd already witnessed that spine-chilling acting. Lee Seo-won wanted to hold on to Yoon Jay for a long, long time.

And yet his feet were already carrying him, methodically, toward the writer of the very drama he'd been keeping an eye on.

"Oh my, CEO Lee."

"A pleasure, Writer-nim."

Lee Seo-won bowed deeply at the waist.

In television, the writer holds the power. And a writer of this particular caliber could make or break an entire casting lineup.

"I hear you're working on a new project these days."

"So that's why you asked to see me?"

"I happen to be nurturing a rather fine actor..."

Writer Im Hyun-hee studied the profile photo he slid across the table with eyes full of curiosity. Just who was this actor who could make Lee Seo-won — a famous name in the film world — bow like that?

"Oh my. Handsome, isn't he."

And the moment she laid eyes on Yoon Jay's photo, her eyes went wide. Well, really. He's quite something.

"If he's your actor, CEO Lee, his acting must be good too?"

"Outstanding. If you'd look kindly on our actor, I'm prepared to invest in the production myself."

"You, CEO Lee?"

"Yes."

It was a fusion sageuk, and being a period piece, securing the production budget was a desperate matter — after all, there was no graceful way to wedge product placement into a historical drama.

"Hmm, not bad. A minor supporting role at best, I suppose..."

Im Hyun-hee tested the waters first, playing hard to get. Several agencies had already been coming around doing their groundwork, and she'd been playing coy with all of them.

But Lee Seo-won simply smiled, sly as a fox. He still had an ace up his sleeve.

"Writer-nim — do you happen to know this photo?"

Word was the female lead would be Park Seo-ah. And Park Seo-ah had crossed paths, briefly, with Yoon Jay once before.

It was a looping GIF from his bodyguard days: Yoon Jay shielding Park Seo-ah as she crossed a red carpet. The mere brush of their fingertips, the two figures drifting apart. A moment so exquisite you could weave three whole storylines out of it on the spot.

"Oh?"

Im Hyun-hee couldn't tear her eyes away from the clip.

When a work already has a source material, production news inevitably stirs up the original fans long before anything airs.

But the moment webtoon readers saw Yoon Jay's released profile photo, they understood immediately. The face simply fit.